Tesla Changes What US Owners Earn for Referrals: How the New FSD (Supervised) Referral Program Works
Tesla has replaced its US car referral rewards with a referral program for FSD (Supervised) subscriptions. Who can share a link, who gets the free trial, what the referrer earns and the limits that apply.
For years, the classic Tesla referral worked like this: an owner shared a link, a friend bought a car, and both got something. In the United States that era is over, at least for now. On the evening of October 29, Tesla North America announced a new program built around FSD (Supervised) instead of new cars. Owners now share a free month of the driver assistance software, and they get rewarded when the person they invited keeps paying for it.
What Tesla announced
The announcement on Tesla North America's X account is short: refer friends and family to give them a month of FSD (Supervised); once they subscribe, you get a free month in return, or $99 in Tesla Credits if you bought FSD outright. The offer is limited to the US.
Tesla's own FSD support page now has a dedicated entry for the program. It confirms the basic mechanism: subscribers and outright owners can send a referral link that unlocks one free month for eligible customers, and the referrer earns benefits if that person subscribes during the trial.
Who can share a link
According to the program terms reported by "EV" and "Notebookcheck", the person sending the invitation must either be paying for an FSD (Supervised) subscription or own FSD outright. That includes FSD that came bundled with a vehicle package. Owners who only have FSD through a one-year grant are left out: they can neither refer anyone nor receive a link. The feature sits in the "Refer and Earn" menu of the Tesla app, which must be version 4.62.0 or newer.
Who gets the free month
The invited person also has to meet a few conditions:
- they must own a registered Tesla with hardware compatible with FSD (Supervised);
- they must not have paid for an FSD subscription in the past 12 months;
- they must never have bought FSD outright;
- if they got a free FSD trial at delivery of a new car, they have to wait until 12 months after that trial ended.
In other words, the program targets existing Tesla owners who have never committed to FSD, not people shopping for their first car.
What the referrer earns
The reward only comes when the friend starts a paid subscription during the trial. A referrer who is a subscriber receives one free month of FSD (Supervised). A referrer who bought FSD outright gets a $99 Tesla Credit, which matches the current US monthly subscription price listed by Tesla.
There are caps. Rewards are limited to 12 per calendar year, and "EV" reports a lifetime limit of 48 per account. Credits show as pending in the app until granted, expire 12 months later and cannot be exchanged for cash, but they can be spent on things like Supercharging, service, accessories or upgrades.
The old car referral is gone
Until this change, a US owner whose link was used to buy a Model 3, Model Y or eligible Cybertruck received a $250 Tesla Credit, and the buyer got three months of FSD. According to "EV", Tesla's "Refer and Earn" page now lists solar panels as the only product that still pays both sides, while car purchases are left with loyalty benefits for repeat buyers.
The shift fits a broader pattern. Tesla stopped selling FSD as a one-time purchase in the US earlier this year and now offers it only as a subscription, so every new subscriber is recurring revenue. Rewarding owners with software months costs Tesla far less than cash credits on car sales.
What it means for drivers
If you already pay for FSD (Supervised) in the US, this is an easy way to cut your own bill: each friend who converts saves you a month, up to a full year.
If you own a Tesla but never tried FSD, ask a friend who subscribes for a link. A month on your own commute tells you far more than a short demo drive, and you can let it lapse if it doesn't convince you.
If you are shopping for a new Tesla in the US, the $250 referral credit is no longer there, so don't count on it in your budget.
In Europe and Romania nothing changes for now. The program is US-only, and FSD (Supervised), sold in Europe as Tesla Assisted Driving, is still being approved country by country. Tesla has not announced a similar referral scheme for European owners.
